There are several known methods for tenderizing meats, some chemical and some mechanical. The chemical meat tenderizing processes are falling out of favor because of the required use of chemicals and because of the present availability of mechanical tenderizers. Mechanical meat tenderizers have been known for many years such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 207,107 (Davis) which issued in 1878: 1,047,346 (Walker) which issued in 1912 and 1,903,789 (Michaels) which issued in 1933. More recent popular meat tenderizers invented by the present inventor are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,199,841 (Jaccard I) issued Apr. 29, 1980 and 4,463,476 (Jaccard II) issued Aug. 7, 1984. All of these patents disclose handheld mechanical means for tenderizing meats but none of them suggest the use of motorized handheld means for this process.
In Jaccard I a hand meat tenderizer is disclosed which allows a plurality of incisions to be made simultaneously in a meat cut and which comprises a plurality of blades attached to a handle. The handle means in the 4,199,841 Jaccard I patent comprises a pair of separable complementary members secured together by a bolt extending through one of said handle members through said blade assembly and threadly engaged in the other handle members. Users of Jaccard I push down on the handle means and compression springs 59 permitting the blades to move up and down.
In Jaccard II the same type of manual handheld tenderizer is disclosed having a liquid flow channel therein to accommodate the flow of fluids therethrough for improved cleaning. In both Jaccard I and II springs and spring housings are needed as are blade-handle attachment which somewhat complicates disassembly of the devices. Also, after cleaning or blade replacement, reassembly of pieces including handle parts, springs, spring housings, spacers, blades and other components, could become tedious and complicated. The tenderizers disclosed in Jaccard I and Jaccard II have perhaps become the most successfully used handheld meat tenderizer by both households and commercial establishments. Cleaning and replacement of the blades in these tenderizers can be complicated and somewhat difficult. The blade segments of Jaccard I and II are removed for sharpening or replacement by loosening and removing screw 25 (in 4,199,841). This process separates handle members 19 and 21 and opens the tenderizer so that blade segments 15 can be removed together with spacer blocks 31 and 32. After the blade segment or segments are sharpened or removed and replaced, spacer blocks 31 and 32 must be arranged and interfitted with blade segments 15 so that bolt or screw 25 apertures are all aligned. Since the bolt 25 traverses through all blade segments in Jaccard I and II, removal of bolt 25 disturbs and displaces all other elements such as other blade segments 15, all spacer blocks 31 and handle members 19 and 21. Thus, to change a blade, central screw 25 is removed; each have to be realigned with all blade segments 15 and spacer blocks 31 and handle parts 19 and 21 when being reassembled. These same disassemble-assemble complex maneuvers are necessary in most prior art tenderizers.
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,047,346 (Walker) for example, bolts 14 are passed through each blade or knife segment for holding or clamping these sections together. The knives are secured by a bolt 14 and are removed by removing bolt 14. By further removing pins 18 of Walker any and all of the knives (blades) can be replaced should any become worn or broken; see Walker column 2 lines 85-100. To reassemble, all of the blades need to be removed even if only one is to be replaced, and all aligned with apertures adjacent each other for the securing together by bolt 14.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,903,789 (Michaels) also discloses a meat tenderizer having blades 12 with apertures 15 for receiving a bolt; the bolt being employed to rigidly secure the blades 12 together. The bolt is tightened by wing nut 17 to hold all of the blades and tongues together. Again to remove one blade all of the blades need to be displaced; the same with reasssembly; see Michaels page 2 lines 32-050.
There are also motorized tenderizers known and used in the prior art. Large conveyor commercial type tenderizers such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,566 are known. These type tenderizers are usually large complex pieces of commercial equipment requiring a large base or foundation to support the actual tenderizing mechanism. Smaller handheld tenderizers of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,892,988 (Gran) and 4,908,909 (Akrenius) are also known. Neither of these patents disclose a handheld tenderizer with blades that provides safety or protective means over the exposed knives or rollers. In Gran, serrated roller 11 and serrated surface 53 are exposed without any protective devices provided to prevent injury by the exposed surface 53. In Akrenius, the hammer head 8 is also exposed which could cause a safety hazzard when in use or in motion. Neither Gran nor Akrenius suggests a simple blade construction to facilitate changing of one of the blades without disturbing the remaining blades.